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The Gunfighter (1950)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Director: Henry King
Writers: William Bowers & William Sellers (screenplay)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker, Helen Westcott, Karl Malden
Genre: Western
A gunfighter who has grown weary of his chosen profession, rides into a dusty one horse town, to once again see the girl that he loves. There he finds his old friend has become the town's new sheriff. He also finds that a young hot shot is trying to kill him... just so that the youngster can earn the title of: the man who killed Jimmy Ringo.
Gregory Peck's favorite movie of all the great films he made was, The Gunfighter. It's easy to see why. The Gunfighter when it came out in 1950 was one of the first westerns to show a more complex character than the typical good guy - bad guy shoot 'em up film. This isn't an action western, it's about a man who in his youth was full of himself and hellbent to be the fastest gun in the west. When we catch up to the older and now wiser Jimmy Ringo, he's become a man full of regrets over the life style he chose.
As soon as he comes into town a crowd gathers outside the bar where he's hold up and they won't let him alone. He's trapped in the bar like a circus sideshow. Little kids point and cheer, the town's ladies protest his very presences.
The film is amazing as it shows this big, bad man.... as being small and alone as he sets in the back corner of the empty bar. He's like a trapped animal with no peace. Even though he's not wanted by the law, his reputation effectively condemns him.
The hopelessness of the main character reminds me of a western-film noir, in that his actions have already sealed his fate with no way to escape them. Gregory Peck is efficient at the sorrowful gun fighter Jimmy Ringo, he brings a sense of burden to the role that works well.
Jimmy Ringo is loosely based on the real Johnny Ringo who survived the shoot out at the OK Coral. Yes that's the same Johnny Ringo as in Tombstone (1993), though here he's a much different character.
The cinematography is by one of Hollywood's greats, Arthur Miller. Miller makes good use of depth and empty spaces to show the utter isolation of Jimmy Ringo.
I thought this was one of the better westerns I've seen.
+
Writers: William Bowers & William Sellers (screenplay)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker, Helen Westcott, Karl Malden
Genre: Western
A gunfighter who has grown weary of his chosen profession, rides into a dusty one horse town, to once again see the girl that he loves. There he finds his old friend has become the town's new sheriff. He also finds that a young hot shot is trying to kill him... just so that the youngster can earn the title of: the man who killed Jimmy Ringo.
As soon as he comes into town a crowd gathers outside the bar where he's hold up and they won't let him alone. He's trapped in the bar like a circus sideshow. Little kids point and cheer, the town's ladies protest his very presences.
The film is amazing as it shows this big, bad man.... as being small and alone as he sets in the back corner of the empty bar. He's like a trapped animal with no peace. Even though he's not wanted by the law, his reputation effectively condemns him.
The hopelessness of the main character reminds me of a western-film noir, in that his actions have already sealed his fate with no way to escape them. Gregory Peck is efficient at the sorrowful gun fighter Jimmy Ringo, he brings a sense of burden to the role that works well.
Jimmy Ringo is loosely based on the real Johnny Ringo who survived the shoot out at the OK Coral. Yes that's the same Johnny Ringo as in Tombstone (1993), though here he's a much different character.
The cinematography is by one of Hollywood's greats, Arthur Miller. Miller makes good use of depth and empty spaces to show the utter isolation of Jimmy Ringo.
I thought this was one of the better westerns I've seen.
+